This written history, entitled "History of St. Patrick's Parish, Merna, Illinois", was written by parishioner Margaret Larkin Kinsella in 1939, added to in 1959, and re-edited in 1975, by her daughter Mary Kinsella Kelley and a grandaughter, Ann...

Towanda, IL; Oral and written family and personal stories; Personal stories

The written history of Francis and Irene Sleevar Kinsella described some of the family's experiences during the depression years of 1930s. Included is an excerpt of President F. D. Roosevelt's Fireside Chat #4, October 22, 1933.

These two photographs of the Merna Family were taken in 1929 and again in 1998 at the Merna farm, one mile north of Merna. The 1929 family members are identified in an accompanying listing, but the people in the 1989 photograph are not identified.

Towanda, IL; Oral and written family and personal stories; Personal stories

This is the written history of Michael Kinsella, born in 1867 in Merna, Illinois, and his wife Margaret Larkin, born in 1868 near Merna, who were married in St. Patrick Church Merna, Illinois in 1897. They farmed 1/4 mile east of Merna and built a...

Towanda, IL; Oral and written family and personal stories; Personal stories

This is a written history of Patrick Kinsella, born in Ireland in 1829, his wife Margaret Bolan and their eleven children. Patrick immigrated in 1853 and purchased his first farm in Towanda Township in 1864. Photographs of Margaret and Patrick...

Towanda, IL; Oral and written family and personal stories; Personal stories

Written family history by Diane Kinsella Yeagle of her parents beginning with the marriage of Marcella Weber to John Kinsella on Feb. 17, 1938 at St. Patrick's Church of Merna, Illinois. They lived in a home next to the Merna Tap. The history...

This written history of the Merna Tap in Merna, Illinois, written by Robert Kelley, details the various owners of the tap from 1900 through 2005. The Merna Tap started out as a grocery store, owned by the Gould family and run by Tom Kinsella. Once...

This written history by Patricia Kelley of the village of Merna, Illinois covers the years from initial settlement in 1866 to the present. Included are comments about the Catholic church and cemetery, Merna School, the community hall, Barnes Grain...

Towanda, IL; Oral and written family history and personal stories; Personal stories; Farm life; Merna, IL

Written history in 2006 by Margaret Mary Cunningham Gleason who was born on a farm near Merna and attended country school until 1928 when her family lost their farm in the Great Depression. She tells of her Irish heritage and the family's life on...

Towanda, IL; Oral and written family and personal stories; Personal stories

Written memories of Don Crose in 2007 included a list of his Crose and Walker cousins. Don and his sister Louise Crose Kinsella are children of Ralph and Evelyn Walker Crose. Ralph was born March 15, 1896 in Bloomington Illinois, a son of George...

This written history of Deb's Beauty Shop covers the years 1985 to 2005. Debbie Kinsella started her beauty shop on October 1, 1985 at 307 S. East Street across from the Towanda Grade School. Wanting to be a stay at home mom, she turned one of...

A newspaper article in the Bloomington Pantagraph, dated August 13, 1909, reports that Merna farmer, Michael Kinsella, devised an implement to help in overcoming the Drouth, by which he kept the surface of his farmland stirred and loose to prevent...

Towanda, IL; Oral and written family and personal stories; Personal stories; Merna, IL

Family history from 1953 through 2007 of Joseph Martin and Patricia Heller Kelley of Merna written by Patricia Kelley. They married on February 14, 1953 and had seven children: Brigid Ann, Catherine Therese, Mary Madeline, James Patrick, John...

In 1932, William Weber wrote the history of his family. He writes that when his parents, Walter and Alta Weber, married in 1921, they moved to Barnes, Illinois where they had living quarters in the rear of the Barnes Store. They had three...